


Valentine’s Day and a Path made of Rose Petals

by Amiyusesha



Series: HEA AU [4]
Category: Marvel 616, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M, MHEA_Harlequin_2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:54:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22724263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amiyusesha/pseuds/Amiyusesha
Summary: Tony and Steve have their first big date on Valentine’s Day.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: HEA AU [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1603465
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18
Collections: MHEA Harlequin Hoopla Prompt Challenge 2020





	Valentine’s Day and a Path made of Rose Petals

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the Valentine’s Day SuperRomance (3k or longer, any rating) prompt.

Tony sat in his car for several minutes of deep breathes and shaking. He tried not to think about how many significant others he’d lost over Valentine’s Day. The ones he’d lost for going to big. The ones he’d lost for not going big enough. Steve seemed pretty practical about Valentine’s Day, for a guy who lived in a town obsessed with the Holiday. He’d been laid back when the two discussed their idea of splitting the planning. Steve had arranged dinner and a movie. Tony had arranged a chocolate tasting and a late night surprise in Scranton. If he had done OK there would be sex, and if he messed it up he would be alone again. ‘Nothing I haven’t handled before’ he told himself. ‘I’ve known him for less than a month, even if we break up it won’t be that bad.’ ‘I can do this,’ ended up being the mantra he went with as he opened the car door and headed up to the still broken exterior door of Steve’s building.

For the first time ever Steve’s apartment was quiet as Tony opened the door. Steve had given him his own key shortly after the kidnapping incident. The second kidnapping incident. The second kidnapping incident this year? The Ronin incident. Yeah. Let’s think about that one as the Ronin incident.

The apartment smelled amazing, tomatoes and garlic, spices and seafood. He couldn’t help but stop and admire Steve for a moment. Steve’s broad shoulders were really filling out that lovely blue crewneck sweater. Steve’s casual but nice sweater and black slacks combo made Tony relax about his own choice of clothing. He’d spent the morning tossing clothes around before deciding on a fairly normal (for him) combination of a classic T and a blazer. Steve must have heard the door closing, or maybe Tony’s sigh of relief, because he chose that moment to turn and gesture Tony over to the little table set up between the couch and the kitchen bar. Last time Tony had seen that table Wanda and Natasha had been painting their nails there. Now it was covered with a white table cloth and candles, with little heart napkin holders set up on heart shaped place mats.

Tony slid into what he hoped was his seat, (There was a salad on the placemat and it was harder to get to the kitchen from there) while Steve stripped off his apron and brought the rest of the food over. “New car?” he asked.

“Yeah. It’s going to take me a bit to get the R8 running again, and I need something to drive until then. I didn’t want to ship one of my other cars in, and anyway, this one is completely electric. It goes with the new image I want for Stark industries. Green energy, a view of the future, responsible stewardship… you know.”

“Mmm. Yeah. I watched some of your more recent press conferences after we met. I think what you are doing with your company is very brave.”

“Thank You. Most people just think I lost my mind while I was a prisoner in Afghanistan."

“Most people are idiots.”

“I don’t suppose you have proof of that?”

“Sure do. Just look at the comments section of any political article online.”

“Good point, but I still don’t think it counts as scientifically verified.”

“Anyone who doesn’t see how brilliant you are MUST be an idiot.”

Tony took a big bite to give himself time to formulate a response, but then his chewing turned thoughtful. “Are these homemade noodles?”

“Yeah. Do you like them?”

“These are fantastic! I’ve had worse noodles at five star restaurants.”

“I wanted to go all out for you.” Steve said seriously.

“Why aren’t you going to culinary school?”

“Too busy with art school, and anyway, everything I can cook I got from recipes on the internet. Neither Clint nor I could do more than boil water for Ramen when we started trying to be independent.”

“I’m too busy to cook,” Tony admitted. “Most people think that I live off of the fare from five star restaurants, but really its mostly fast food and smoothies for me.”

“Don’t you have to shop for the smoothie ingredients?”

“Nah, I subscribe to one of those services that delivers fruit and stuff to me. J.A.R.V.I.S. manages my stock and subscription.”

“I’d love to cook dinner for you every night, Tony.”

“Get me off of my diet of hamburgers and pizza?”

“That too, but mostly it would mean that I got to see you every evening.” Tony thought about that for a moment, thought about quiet meals like this one shuffled in amongst the crazy family pizza nights he had already experienced with Steve’s crew. He rolled the idea around, compared it to his usual habit of cold pizza when prompted and smoothies when they were placed in his hand while working and he felt this deep and desperate surge of _wanting_.

“I would like that too.” Tony admitted. Then he tried to change the subject. “So when is this movie of yours set to start?”

“Oh, whenever we want.”

“What?”

“Sorry, I guess I didn’t explain properly, but… who wants to go to the actual theater on Valentines Day? I have very little interest in whatever romcom is currently showing…I mean... It works well for the theater. They always sell out, but I’d rather watch a movie I expect to enjoy from the comfort of my own couch.”

“Oh, wow. I did misunderstand… but that sounds fantastic. What movie did you pick?”

“It’s a surprise. Once you’re done eating you can go get settled on the couch and I’ll get our popcorn and snacks.”

“Coffee?”

“Absolutely.”

Tony had to move Lucky in order to get situated, and the dog hopped right back up on the couch as Steve settled in with one arm wrapped around Tony and a bowl of popcorn settled in their laps. Tony jolted so hard he nearly spilled it when the movie came on. “Galaxy Quest? You got me Galaxy Quest for our holiday movie?”

“You said it was one of your favorites.”

“It is… I just…” Tony struggled to find a way to explain to Steve how rare it was for anyone in his life to care about making Tony happy if they weren’t being paid to do so.

“We can watch something else if you like?” Steve offered. He was studying Tony’s face in way that made Tony wish for his sunglasses. It made him feel vulnerable. He kissed Steve deeply, trying to distract both of them from the awkward moment, then leaned over to rest his forehead on Steve’s shoulder.

“This is fine. I really like Galaxy Quest.” It was more than fine really, and Tony was half asleep, sprawled across Steve’s chest by the time the show ended, so Steve let it run a second time. It was Tony’s alarm, set to keep him from forgetting his planned activities that roused them, and Tony was quite annoyed about it for a moment. Sprawled across Steve with the big blonde’s fingers tracing meaningless shapes across his arm had been incredibly comfortable.

Danny’s served a thing they called a chocolate piñata. A giant hollow chocolate heart hung neatly from the display that was wheeled over to their table. When they broke it open it proved to be full of a selection of Danny’s chocolates, from chocolate covered strawberries to white chocolate truffles. Even with the way Steve ate, they took a good amount of chocolate with them for later.

Steve had clearly been expecting to leave town after Danny’s. Tony had asked earlier in the week if it was OK to plan to spend the night in Scranton. Tony studied those wide blue eyes in the surprisingly bright light of the lamps that surrounded Valentine’s ‘Lovers Garden’. Then pulled a wide flat box from where he’d slipped it down between the seats. “This isn’t your actual Present, but I remembered the way you talked about these and thought that it would be worth braving the cold to hang one.”

Steve opened the box carefully, saving the ribbon and folding the tissue paper aside so that he could read the delicately engraved ‘Tony and Steve’. “Yeah, let’s go hang it. Where do you want it on the tree?”

“As high as we can get it.”

“We, huh?” Steve asked with an odd, bright smile before hefting Tony into the air. “How tall are we together?”

“Tall enough for this” Tony replied as he hooked the metal heart over the wire branch of the fake willow. The two scurried back to the car and cranked the heater on, neither had been dressed for the snowy mid-February evening.

The drive to Scranton was full of gossip, Tony had plenty of complaints about the people he was dealing with in trying to get the old factory converted to whatever its new purpose was meant to be. Steve listened and commiserated as Tony drove him towards whatever was planned for next.

Their next stop proved to be the garage of an old brick home. Concrete steps carved their way through a hill to reach the front door, but Tony turned the corner to get to the garage nestled against the back of the house. The garage door took them into what may have been a living room if it had been furnished, and Steve could see the granite expanse of a kitchen counter dividing the room he was in from a kitchen before Tony tugged him along up another set of stairs.

The door above the garage lead into what was clearly a master bedroom. A pair of desks flanked the door and black dressers sat against each of the red side walls. The far wall was a soft gray, and the bed that rested against in sat on a black platform, white blankets and red comforted tucked in neatly. Red rose petals fell in a trail across the floor through the door way to what was obviously the master bath.

Steve followed the rose petals in to see a massage table set up in front of the large glassed in shower area and a tub big enough, not just for Steve, but for Steve and another person. “I’ve never seen a bathtub that big.” He said quietly.

“The house isn’t perfect, but I didn’t have time to build something new if I wanted it to be ready for tonight… I’ve been told I give a pretty mean massage, and I remember what you said about the tub at your apartment.”

“This is perfect Tony. Thank You.” His bright smile made it obvious that he meant it, and Tony found himself relaxing again, full of a bubbly, anticipatory sort of happiness. That happiness grew warmer and frothier as Steve stripped down for a massage and then insisted on returning the favor for Tony. They slid into the heat of the bath together after Steve lit the candles and Tony left his phone on the counter to play soft jazz for them. They rinsed off in the shower and washed each other’s hair mostly as an excuse to keep touching, then dried off and curled around each other in bed.

The next morning dawned clear and Steve woke to the unfamiliar sound of birds squabbling in the yard he had yet to really see. He could have gotten up and gone over to the window to look out at them, but instead he curled himself just a bit more tightly around his bedmate, enjoying the way the light and shadow changed the shapes of Tony’s face and the gentle exhalations of the other’s breath. Tony stirred his way towards morning much more slowly and groggily and Steve greeted him with a chaste good morning kiss. The two wandered into the bathroom to take care of their morning breath at the side by side sinks.

“There’s a place downtown that is supposed to do a great breakfast.” Tony said once his teeth were brushed and the two were in the bedroom dressing. Tony’s morning routine was a bit more complicated than Steve’s so the blond sat on the bed to watch the show. “I ran out of time getting this place ready, but the kitchen appliances should be delivered today.”

“It was perfect Tony. Everything we needed last night was here. And,” Steve paused to pull Tony in against him, hands on the other man’s hips positioning him between Steve’s knees. “If it hadn’t been perfect everything would still have been fine. The thing I wanted most out of Valentine’s Day was the time spent with you.”

“I wanted to spend time with you too.” Tony said, uncertain if he was in trouble for something now that Steve’s face was so serious.

“I know that… but sometimes I don’t think you realize how much I enjoy just having you around. If we’d spent the night at my apartment watching movies from the 90s the only things I would have regretted are the size of my bed and the lack of privacy.”

“Well now you have a much bigger bed and your own master suite.” Something odd passed over Steve’s face then, brief flashes of sudden and contradictory emotions. He took a deep breath, and then sighed before answering.

“I don’t want this room to be private, Tony. I don’t want a bigger bed so that it can be empty. I want those things so that I can share them with you. So that we can kiss and cuddle without asking one or more roommates to stay at the library until its closing time. So that we can be a little bit more energetic than a couch is likely to survive. I want to share this room with you, not keep it all to myself.”

“I… bought the house for you…so you can do what you want with it. You don’t have to set one of the bedrooms aside for me.”

“I don’t want to set one bedroom aside for you. I want to share this bedroom with you. I know you work a lot, and once you get this factory set-up the way you want, you will be traveling a lot. But when you have free time I want to spend as much of it as possible with you, and wake up beside you.”

“I usually just sleep in my workshop.” Tony said softly, struggling to process what Steve was saying here, struggling with the very concept that rather than the house being satisfactory it was Tony himself who was satisfactory. He had no experience with the feelings he was currently experiencing, could never remember a time when he was judged for himself rather than his ideas, his products, the gifts he could give and the paychecks he provide. Perhaps one of the reasons he encouraged the people he liked to become involved in his business ventures was to keep from knowing if they would stay just for him.

“We can set you up a Workshop here if you want to sleep in a workshop. You can have any of the rooms, whichever works for you. I can bring you dinner there, and we can set up a bed or a comfy couch.” Steve paused to blink at Tony quietly while Tony struggled to find words. “Think about it while we get breakfast… or while you work when you’ve dropped me off after breakfast. You don’t have to decide right now. I’m not going anywhere.”

“I… breakfast…yeah…come on, the car is waiting… Oh. The paperwork on the house is in the top drawer of that desk there. My PA ran it past our lawyers. It should all be in order.”

“That sounds great Tony. I’ll go through it after breakfast while I’m waiting for the appliances to arrive.”

“I thought the attic above this room would make a nice studio. It has lots of windows. The attic above the main house has lots of windows too, and its bigger, but bright yellow? I don’t know how I feel about that. I thought about changing it before you saw it, but I’ve never asked how You feel about bright yellow.”

“Bright yellow has its place… but I don’t know if that place is on walls. Clint and I helped Annie and George… the couple down the hall from us? Set up their second bedroom as a nursery. Annie said that she wanted to do a soft yellow unisex nursery, but she read in one of her baby books that yellow is a bad color for nurseries because it makes babies restless.”

“Really? Wall color matters to babies? I can’t remember having any particular feelings about the color of my bedroom walls…”

“Annie seemed quite sure of her information.” Steve kept Tony talking about paint colors all through breakfast and the drive back to the house. Once he had accepted the keys from Tony, and insisted that Tony keep one of the keys and one of the garage door openers for himself, he headed upstairs to flip through the paperwork that had been left in the desk. Tony had set up the electricity, the water, the gas and garbage pick up would happen on Wednesdays. Steve was now the proud owner of a six bedroom two and a half bath home with attached four car garage and a very run down looking fenced in yard. There was a computer set up on one of the two desks, so Steve logged into his school account and emailed Wanda and Natasha with his current address. He figured out that there was a phone in the desk as well when it rang to let him know his new appliances were on their way. He called Natasha on it while he waited for them, wandering the house, making lists of repairs he should likely see to.

“I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“No. I’ve been awake for a while now. Clint is still sleeping though.”

“Have you checked your email?”

“Not yet. Why?”

“I emailed you before I realized there was a phone here. Do you remember when you told me I should be prepared for some giant extravagant gift and I should be careful not to make him think it was unwanted?”

“Was it unwanted?”

“No… I mean… It’s a very nice house.”

“He bought you a house?”

“With a completely furnished Master suite.”

“Well, that’s certainly extravagant.”

“Yeah. I tried to convince him to move in here too. I’d rather him not live out of a factory workshop.”

“That is probably wise. Do you need to be picked up?”

“I’d kinda rather if everyone gathered here. I was going to call Crystal when I was done on the phone with you.”

“We will probably be the last to arrive. We drove down to New York last night.”

“Really? Did you enjoy yourselves?”

“Very much so. I’ll tell you all about it tonight.”

"Great. Se you in a few hours."

**Author's Note:**

> This is the second of three dates in this set.


End file.
